Malaysia to offer Indian transit travelers visa free entry from July

PUTRAJAYA/MALAYSIA: The Malaysian Government has said that from July this year, transit travellers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will not need a visa to enter the country.

The Star quoted the country's Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, as saying that the government, had decided to reinstate from July 1 the "transit without visa" offer to travellers from the four countries after considering the advantage it would offer in terms of attracting more tourists from the region.

He added Malaysia previously offered a similar privilege to travellers from the Indian subcontinent but it was later revoked.

"The Home Ministry has suggested some methods that will avoid abuse of the facility.We will discuss them with our local airline companies as we will need their cooperation for the offer to work," he told after chairing the Cabinet Committee on Tourism meeting on Monday.

He said the details of how the offer would work and conditions would be announced soon.

It is understood that Malaysia is targeting an additional 8,000 to 10,000 visitors this year through the move that will only be offered to travellers with tickets for connecting flights.